Ann Aguirre is an automatic pre-order author for me. No matter what genre she writes in, she brings me joy. So a fake-relationship romance between and alien and an AI (now given a body) might not have been something I bought by anyone other than maybe Ruby Dixon, I enjoyed it all the same. I don't read sci-fi often so it does take a bit to get into the flow but I loved the sincere way they interacted and the clear consent. There was something very heart-warming about how Helix (The "male" character for all intents and purposes) processes feelings physical and emotional for the first time in his new body. The physical intimacy aspects of this book were a bit strange as they are non-humanoid beings so if you are looking for spice it might not be your scene but it was cute.

4.5 stars UPDATE Apr. 18, 2021 - I've been thinking so much about this book since I read it nearly two months ago that I'm upgrading to 5 stars and adding it to my favourites shelf.

Content warning for

Spoiler

kidnapping. The hero and heroine were quite imperilled.

I think I loved this book even more than the first in the series, although there were more things I quibbled with in this book than the first one.

I don't even know where to start. Maybe the romance tropes: I love me a fake relationship, forced proximity, a virgin hero (and this was really in the extreme, as it was his first time even living in a body!), and a grumpy hero who is easily shocked (kind of like Andrew in a Christmas Gone Perfectly Wrong by Cecilia Grant https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23303983-a-christmas-gone-perfectly-wrong).

But this book is so much more than a space romance. It's about what it is to be alive and to love, and to navigate between feelings and reason. It shows a vision for human love that is deeply consensual and respectful of all genders and sexualities (including asexuality!). It even had a beautiful apology that correctly emphasized the impact the apologizer's actions had on the wronged person.

The Tiralan sounds quite utopian in terms of gender and sexuality. Tiralan people are born gender neutral and can declare their gender — or remain gender neutral — in their adulthood. "Love groups" can involve sexual or romantic love or platonic love, and all forms of love are honoured. It's basically built on the belief that people can't live without connection. But it also doesn't leave a lot of space for people like the heroine Qalu, who enjoys a lot of solitude and until the hero comes along, her only companion is a venomous, talking, feathered sort of cat-like creature.

The hero, Helix, is an AI the heroine saved by putting him into a "biosynthetic" body. So the first half of the book is all about him learning what it is to be alive, and how our senses give rise to emotions. I highlighted so many passages that were just hilarious observations on the absurdity of having a body! Even just his horror at discovering his body, "Does that mean I am made of meat?" Or when he tries to move his arm for the first time: "This meat vessel is broken! It does nothing that I request or require.

His reaction to learning about poop was perfect. "I will never consume anything again!"

And at the end of his first day in his body: "Today is a day of wonders," he muttered. "I eat, I shall attempt to sleep. I'm a biological marvel."

But also the commitment to consent that weaves throughout the entire book is just beautiful, starting with Qalu navigating Helix's sensitivity to touch:
"May I?" "If you must." "That's not permission."

It was all so good. My quibbles were about the romance part of the book. Around about 60-70% of the way through, the couple seemed to lose chemistry. I mean at that point, their lives were in peril so like I guess that's legit, but the reason I'm only reading romances is because shipping relationships is what keeps me turning pages. Also, they experienced quite a lot of jealousy, and given the possibilities in Tiralan culture and its values around love, I really wish we could see a relationship without jealousy. Also the ending was a bit cheesy, like maybe it could have ended just a little before dotting all the i's and crossing ALL the t's. But those are small quibbles really, and I really did love it.

Also, just like the first book in the series, I loved the author's note at the end about her inspiration for the sex scenes. So good! The next book in this series is available for free serially, one chapter per month, but I'm not sure if I want to start it before it's all available because I'm a pretty fast reader and it might torment me.

I loved 1st book so much more than this one. idk but I just didn't connect with the characters as much

I liked this, but not as much as Strange Love, which was an unexpected delight, so I was expecting more from this one. I don't think it helped that both characters were aliens — part of the fun of the first one was Beryl being human and getting used to this new environment and acting in ways Zylar wasn't expecting, and while Zylar was definitely alien and there were cultural differences between them, they were both just really sweet and lovely. But here, both Helix and Qalu were a little more shut off and colder, and while Helix was getting used to being in a body for the first time, it wasn't as satisfying for me as Beryl learning about Zylar society and all that. I also preferred the more gradual relationship progression in the first book. Here, Helix starts off being interested, but Qalu is worried she had too much power over him and keeps shutting things down and keeping her distance, and I found that a bit boring. I was also intrigued by the idea of a fake relationship between the two which is part of the set-up, but that's quickly abandoned. I felt like there was a lot of potential here that went unrealized. I still had fun with this, though, and I'm planning to read the third book, which appears to return to the human/alien dynamic, so hopefully it'll work better for me.

4 stars just because there were some bits that felt a bit rushed (and also, in my humble self-insert opinion, I prefer it when at least half of a pair is human), but other than that, this was a joy and it might just become my favourite alien romance series.

Spoiler

and guess what, the eugenics are finally called what they are, so at least the author is self-aware!

For the first time, it occurred to her that preserving the status quo for the sake of one’s own comfort was a much darker and crueler choice than she had ever realized.